Thirstiest Paper Towel

All paper towels are the same. Or are they? Which paper towel should you use in order to absorb the most water? We tested to find out.

Broad Question

Which brand of paper towel absorbs the most water?

Specific Question

Which brand of paper towel absorbs the most water after five seconds of saturation in water?

Hypothesis

It is hypothesized that the well-known and more expensive brands such as Bounty and Viva will absorb more water than any of the other brands.

Graph of Hypothesis

Variables

Independent Variable:

The different Brands of Paper Towels

Dependent Variable:

Amount of water absorbed (ml)

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:

Amount of time after saturation, sizes of paper towels used.

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

~Absorb - soak up
~Forceps - an instrument such as tongs, pincers, or tweezers

---

---

---

---

General Plan

An experiment was was conducted to determine which brand of paper towel was the most absorbent. It began with measuring out 100 ml of water into a graduated cylinder with multiple different brands of seven inch by seven inch paper towel squares. The squares were rolled up into tubes and dipped them into the graduated cylinders with water. Forceps were used to dip the roll. After saturation, the towels were kept under for exactly five seconds. The people conducting the experiment tried to make sure that the paper towel never touched the sides of the graduated cylinder when they were being removed The graduated cylinder was checked to see how much water was left after the paper towels were saturated in the water. The experiment was conducted all in the same week (Tuesday, March 6th through to Thursday, March 8th) in the science room, which ensured that the air humidity and temperature of the water were similar. All of the paper towels were tried in the water in five different trials. The original water was measured exactly which ensured that the results weren’t swayed by the amount of starting water changing throughout the experiment.

Potential Problems And Solutions

The paper falls in the water from lack of pressure on tweezers/forceps; Get longer tweezers/forceps for better leverage and grip.

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

Experimental Design

Number Of Trials:

25 (Five each brand)

Number Of Subjects In Each trial:

1

Number of Observations:

25

Where will data be collected?:

Josiah Bartlett Elementary/Middle School (Mr. Yahna's Science Room)

Resources and Budget Table

~ 1 roll of Bounty paper towels ($1.98)
~ 1 roll of Sparkle paper towels ($1.34)
~ 1 roll of Viva paper towels ($2.14)
~ 1 roll of school brand paper towels (borrowing from school)
~ Five pieces of copy paper (have)
~ 2,500 ml of water (have)
~ Five 100 ml graduated cylinders (borrowing from Mr. Yahna)
~ Two rulers (have)
~ Two pairs of scissors (have)
~ Watch (have)
~ Forceps (borrowing from Mr. Yahna)

Time Line

Test experiment without collecting data ~ February 17
Complete design ~ March 2
Bring materials into school ~ March 5
Run trials of experiment, collecting data ~ March 6 - March 6
Fill out charts and tables ~ March 12 - March 16

---

---

---

---

Background Research

~Paper towels are just sugar molecules and cellular molecules.
~Because of these molecules, water is attracted to the paper towels.
~Bounty supposedly 20% more absorbent than other brands
~Bounty/Sparkle are most popular, so we will use those with school brand and copy paper.
~Water soaking into paper towels is called capillary action.
~Water travels through paper towels even against gravity.
~Patterns on paper towels help absorb the water.
~Materials used are extracted from wood or fiber crops. Contains bleach
~Arthur Scott, inventor of paper towels
~Classified by strength, absorbency, weight, thickness
~Rolls called plys, often paper towels come in two plys
~Mostly Pine and Spruce trees used to make paper towels
~Made from paper pulp, sometimes recycled, or from wood or fiber crops
~Loosely woven which allows water to move through the towel
~Having air pockets in the towel also helps with absorbency
~Creping and embossing are manufacturing process’s that make the towel more absorbent
~Creping process, the mechanical action of a blade disrupts the fiber-to-fiber bonds in the paper and forms a micro-fold structure within the sheet of paper
~Embossing changes outside from flat to contoured

References

http://www.how-come.net/2008/08/27/how-do-paper-towels-soak-up-water-so-quickly/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_towel
http://www.papertowelcouponshq.com/paper-towel-facts/
"How do paper towels soak up water so quickly? « How Come?." How Come?. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.how-come.net/2008/08/27/how-do-paper-towels-soak-up-water-so-quickly/>.

"Paper Towel Facts." Paper Towel Coupons Headquarters. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.papertowelcouponshq.com/paper-towel-facts/>.

"Paper towel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2012.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_towel>.

Detailed Procedure

1.) Fill up the five graduated cylinders with 100ml of tap water.
2.) Cut paper towels in seven by seven inch squares.
3.) Roll up paper towel squares into tubes.
4.) Dip paper towel tubes into graduated cylinders until saturated.
5.) Keep paper towels in the water for five seconds after saturation.
6.) Remove towels and throw them away.
7.) Observe and record how many milliliters have been removed out of graduated cylinders by
100 original cm - leftover cm = amount absorbed
8.) Empty graduated cylinders into sink.
9.) Repeat Steps 1 - 8 four more times, recording amount absorbed each time.

Photo List

1. Picture of whole Bounty Roll.
2. Picture of whole Sparkle Roll.
3. Picture of whole Viva Roll.
4. Picture of whole School Brand Roll.
5. Picture of a ream of Copy Paper.
6. Picture of graduated cylinder after Bounty saturating
7. Picture of graduated cylinder after Sparkle saturating
8. Picture of graduated cylinder after Viva saturating
9. Picture of graduated cylinder after School Brand saturating
10. Picture of graduated cylinder after Copy Paper saturating

---

---

---

---

Results

All Raw Data

Graphs

Photos

---

---

---

---

---

Data Analysis

After analyzing the data, it was determined that Viva brand absorbed the most, answering our question of which brand absorbs the most water.

Conclusion

An experiment was conducted to determine which paper towel brand absorbed the most water after five seconds of saturation. The question that wanted answered was ‘Which brand of paper towels take up the most clean water after five seconds of saturation?’ A graduated cylinder would be filled up to 100 ml, then a 7” by 7” paper towel would be rolled up and dipped into the cylinder. After full saturation for five seconds, the towel would be pulled out and the remaining water in the cylinder would be recorded and subtracted from 100 to know how much water was taken away. Twenty-five trials were recorded for five different paper brands, five trials each brand. The Dependent Variable was the amount of water absorbed, and the Independent Variable was the differentiating brands. The results showed Viva and Bounty to have absorbed the most. Viva had taken 25.2ml of water and Bounty had absorbed only 24.2ml of water.

---

---

---

---

---

Discussion

Benefit to Community and/or Science

Abstract